Assessor's Office

The Assessor's Office function is to establish fair and accurate values of all taxable real estate and business personal property in Burlington, Vermont. The department is responsible for the administration of all laws and regulations regarding property tax assessments.

The assessed values are the basis for the distribution of the City's annual property tax levy. The Grand List Book is an inventory of approximately 11,000 taxable and exempt real estate parcels and approximately 300 business personal property accounts. Property assessment values are based on an estimation of fair market value. The Assessor's Office has guidelines for insuring fair tax assessments for all property owners throughout the City. The guidelines are as follows:

Establish market value for all parcels throughout the City

Measure the relationship between the market and the current tax assessed value

Conduct property valuation tax appeals

It is the policy of the Assessor's Office to conduct an interior and exterior inspection, where possible, when evaluating a property under review. A thorough property inspection is the fairest way to confirm property data and estimate the property’s value. A property review is warranted when a significant change has been made, the property recently transferred ownership, data errors are evident in the database or during a City-wide reappraisal.

Other activities of the Assessor's Office include providing information to taxpayers, real estate appraisers, attorneys, brokers, and the public. This office handles appeals by aggrieved property owners, cooperates with other departments, assists with updating property tax maps, and completes reports required by the Vermont Department of Taxes.

The Grand List is an inventory of all taxable and non-taxable real estate and business personal property accounts in the City. In addition to being available on this website, a hard copy is maintained in the Assessor's Office.